Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. College was taking up a lot of time, but I'm finished with this semester so I've got all summer to update stories. enjoy and review as always!

Goku flew as far as he could until his energy finally was about to give out. He still hadn't mastered flying yet. He flew into a dense forest where he thought the army's tanks would never be able to cross into. As soon as he landed he dropped Bulma and Pan and punched an old tree as hard as he could causing it to fall.

Tears poured down his face, "Bulma…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…."

Bulma looked down, "Its okay…" She lied.

Goku shook his head, "Don't give me that crap…I'm the one responsible for your parents being killed…you should hate me."

"I could never hate you…" She said truthfully.

Goku ran over to Bulma and looked at her with eyes full of tears and self hate, "Don't do that…" Goku handed her a rock, "Come on…what are you waiting for? Hurt me!"

Bulma busted out into tears and threw the rock into a bush, "Just shut up! Why would I want to hurt you! You're the only family I have left…I can't lose you too…"

Goku was stunned to say the least. Even after the tragic deaths of her parents caused by his actions, his choice, Bulma not only considered him a friend still, but she also considered him to be like family. How could she still have those kind of feelings for him.

Goku backed away and turned from her, "Fine…" He said solemnly.

He sat against a large tree and there was a tense silence between the trio. Pan sat against a bush and pulled her knees up to her chest, burrying her face into her arms, crying softly about everything that had just happened. It was odd the feelings she was experiencing. She was so happy to be free of that miserable facility, but she was also devastated by the tragic price that was paid for their freedom.

"Bulma…I'm sorry…" Was all Pan could say.

Bulma just looked up to acknowledge the girl before immediately looking back down at the ground.

"So where do we go from here?" Goku asked himself. "The army will be looking for us."

Bulma looked over at Goku and said, "There is a small village to the far north. They'll never think to look there, but it would take forever for us to make a trip there without getting caught."

"At least we could have some peace so I say the trip would be well worth it." Goku answered.

Pan looked down, "I'll do whatever you two think is best."

Goku walked over to her and kneeled down in front of Pan, "Listen, don't think any of this is your fault. You're free now, and I'll protect you. Everything will work itself out, trust me."

"I do." Pan answered honestly.

Goku smiled, "We'll be far away from all this madness soon and you'll never have to look back."

Goku turned around and said, "Okay, I'm going to take a look around."

Bulma watched as Goku headed into the forest. She closed her eyes and tried to sort her emotions out. She should hate him, but she knew he did what he thought was right, and her father told them to escape.

Goku kept marching until he came across a small cabin in the woods and smiled, "Great, I hope these people are friendly."

Goku stepped out of the bushes and waved his hand, "Excuse me, but could you help me and my friends out?"

The family outside looked frightened, "Are you with the Gergan army?"

Goku shook his head, "No…in fact me and my friends escape from the army. We need shelter at least for the night if you don't mind."

The father nodded, "Of course you can stay. Any enemy of the army is a friend of ours."

"Great, I'll go get my friends and be right back! Thank You." Goku said before taking off back for Bulma and Pan.

Pan looked up to see Goku coming back, "What is it, Goku?"

Goku smiled, "Found some nice folks and some shelter to boot. So lets go."

Bulma stood up and went ahead of Goku and Pan. The young alien boy knew it would take forever for his and Bulma's relationship to get back to normal, if it ever would.

"Goku…I feel like I'm a third wheel." Pan admitted.

Goku hugged her close, "That's not true. Listen Pan, things are rough right now but its better to be out here than to be back in that stupid facility."

Pan nodded, "Just…okay…" She sighed.

Goku felt bad for her. He really wanted to cheer her up somehow. Right now though things were too dangerous.

Just then the two kids heard Bulma running back toward them. Goku looked confused, "What's wrong?"

Bulma was frantic, "That family, they're calling the army. Trust me, the government will respond. They're desperate to find us. We have got to get out of here as fast as possible. Goku, can you fly us out of here?"

Goku shook his head, "I'm sorry I can't. I'm out of energy, I'll need some rest and food."

"We don't have time for that! Look!" Pan pointed up.

The trio froze in fear at the sight of three army helicopters hovering in the air.

"Roger, we have confirmation the targets are indeed the subjects and traitor." A helicopter pilot reported back to the military camp near by. "Remember men, we bring the subjects back alive, the traitor scientist can be killed or captured!" One pilot told the other two.

Goku looked at the girls and whispered, "Run…"

Bulma nodded and grabbed Pan's hand pulling her into the forest. A helicopter was about to take off after them but Goku fired what little energy he had left causing it to hit one helicopter that then crashed into another. With only one helicopter left the pilot was forced to stay and make sure Goku didn't escape.

"Alright you two, the rest is up to you. Get somewhere safe." Goku fell to the ground exhausted.

Just then Goku heard a yell from a man and then the sound of a sword cutting metal, followed by a loud crash. Goku barely was able to open his eyes enough to see a man with long wild hair and a scar on his cheek. The man was smiling and told Goku he would be okay. So with that Goku fell unconscious, his final thought before falling asleep being that this man was hopefully friendly.

Off at the nearby military camp General Krawford was angered greatly by the pitiful news his soldiers had to report, "I'm sorry, sir, but the fugitives escaped. We can't find them"

General Krawford shot the man point blank, "This is pathetic! The greatest military on Earth and we can't even catch two kids and a scientist? I want everyone last one of you out there searching for them! You don't eat or sleep until those three are one their way back to a facility! If you don't then you'll end up like these poor fools." He pointed to the poor family that had called the army about Goku and the others.

"These fools thought they would be reward with money to support their family if they turned in the fugitives. Well if they really wanted to be rewarded they should have kept the targets near their home until we got their. Now they wont even be leaving with their lives." General Krawford gave the order to shoot and like clockwork a couple of soldiers fired killing the whole family.

The other soldiers clearly got the point, "Yes sir!" All the soldiers shouted and took off into the woods to begin their hunt.

Krawford sat down and rubbed his forehead, "I suppose I should contact the Emperor about the way things are going."

Krawford enter his tent and accessed the video link to the Emeperor's office. In a moment the young emperor appeared on screen looking very dissatisfied.

Emperor Akrof Gergan spoke without a hint of emotion in his tone, "What do you have to report general?"

General Krawford felt uneasy that he had to report bad news, "We have confirmed that the three targets have escaped, but we believe they are still in the forest somewhere and my men will be working 24/7 to capture them."

Emperor Gergan scoffed, "I doubt it, all the same you will try to capture them, but since I don't have confidence in you at this point I have already prepared a back up plan."

"What is it, sir?" Krawford asked.

"None of your concern. What is your concern is this, I know you have a desire to make that scientist Bulma your personal tramp but if you let that get in the way of my goals, I promise you that you will end up like the good doctor here." The Emperor smirked and turned the camera toward a screen showing Dr. Gero in a prison beaten badly for letting Goku and the others escape.

General Krawford nodded, "I…understand sir."

"I'm glad you do, over and out." The Emperor said and then the screen went black.

General Krawford stepped outside his tent and looked at a near by mountain, "Sorry Bulma, but you're not worth me losing my life. You will die."